Improvement in the mode of transmitting magnetic signals on railroads



PATENTED OCT. 5, 1858.

H. MAULE. MODE OF TRANSMITTING MAGNETIC SIVGNALS 0N RAILROADS.

PETERS no, Pncroumn. wAsHmGmN, n c

UNITED STATES ff1. W.

PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY MAULE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

lMPROVEMENT'IN THE MODE 0F TRANSMITTING MAGNETIC SIGNALS 0N RAILROADS.

` Specification forming part of ALetters Patent No. 21,688, dated October 5, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY MAULE, of the .city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andfState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new'aud usefulImprovements in Transmitting Signals on Railroads; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full land exact description of thesame, reference being had'to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters vof reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to an improvement in appliances heretofore proposed for transmitting telegraphic signals fromv one train to another on railways; and my improvement consists in securing tothe railroad a series of conducting-rails independent of those of the track, and placed in pairs, one pairbeing disconnected from the next: pair throughout the series, and one conducting-rail of each pair being arranged to' connect with one pole and the other conducting-rail with the other pole of a galvanic battery situated on the train, by devicesfull y described hereinafter, and thebatteries of the trains being connected'with suitable indicating apparatus, in order that the engineer of one train maybe cognizant of the 'presence of another train pn that portion of the track traversed by that pair of conducting-4 rails with which the engine is in communica' tion.

In order to enable others to make and use my invention, I will? now describe its construction. andv operation.

On reference to the. drawings, which form'I apart of this specification, Figure I 4is a sectional view of part of a railroad illustrating my improvement; Fig. 2, a ground plan; Fig. 3,.

an extended ground plan, drawn to a reduced scale; Fig. 4, a sectional view of one of the conducting-rails;

A and A represent the rails of an ordinary railroad-track. Between the rails are what I term the conductingrailsB and B', which l con sist of strips of wood secured to the sleepers and surmounted with metal plates curved to the form represented in the enlarged sectional view', Fig. 4. The metal strips are not continuous throughout the entire track, but are interrupted 'at intervals, as seen in. Fig. 3, in which 5, 6,7, and 8 are supposed to represent stations of several milesapart. Wires are.

.conveyed from each end ofboth conductingvrails to the station near which the said rails terminate. Thus from one end ofthe rail B a wire, a, is laid tothe station 5, and from the Nopposite end a wire, b, to the station 6. From one vend of the conducting-rail B a wire, a',

ext-ends to the station 5, and from theA opposite end a wire, b', to the station 6. Each station has two other wires communicating with the ends of conducting-rails, separated from those above alluded to and communicating with vwires at the next station. This system of conduct in g-rails placed in pairs, one pairdetached from w the next pair, exists throughout the wlfi length of the track, the disconnection of `the pairs taking place at those"stations. or' other.

vpoints between which it is desirable that. the

engineer of one train should know whether another train is approaching.

G represents the truck of the locomotive, cr of one ofthe cars of one train, and Hthat of the locomotive, or -of one of the cars of another tra-in. Each truck is furnished with an ordinary galvaniebattery, I, from the positive pele -of which passesv a wire,m, arranged to bear on the pulley K, andj'rom the negative pole a wire, n, bearing on the edge of the pulley L. Both of these pulleys are hung to arms M, which are secured to shafts turning in boxes ot glass or other nonconducting material attached to the truck in such a manner that. the pulleys may be entirely insulated from .each other. Thepulleys are so-hung as to bear ou the con'- ducting-rails, thc. pulley K on the rail B and the pulley L on-the rail B'.'

AIt should be understood that each train ,has

va lmagnetic indicator acted upon by wires con- 5 and 6, and all other Vtrains absent, the conductingrail will be charged with electricity, but no circuit formed. ".Ilhe momentan'other' It will suffice for these indicatOrs to graphic signals on railroads fromrrone train tov another have been heretofore devised, as in the rejected application of vJoseph Baker, Deccmber, 1855, and the plan of Bonelli described in the Mechanics Magazine, volume 63. 1 therefore limit my claim to the arrangement herein described-that is to say,

Securing Ito a railroad a series of conductingrailsindependent of those of the track, and placed in pairs, one pair being disconnected frointhe next pair throughout the series, and each pair of conducting-rails being arranged to connect with a galvanic battery on the train, by the devices herein described or their equivalents, one rail of each pair to one pole and the other to the otherv pole of the said battery, and the latter being connected 'to any suitable indicating apparatus situated on the tra-in, as herein set forth, and for che purpose specified.

1n testimony whereof I have signed my name lto this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY 'MAULEX Witnesses HENRY HoWsoN, CHARLES D. FREEMAN. 

